Nuances: Our Asian Stories

S3 E10: June Chua on learning to love herself through dance, how her films led her to Norway & Nepal, and why she moved to Berlin from Canada.

GUEST BIO
June Chua loves to tell stories in a myriad of ways. She's an award-winning filmmaker with more than 20 years experience in journalism, writing, editing, broadcasting and communications. She also helps artists with their proposals and grants. She's now developing a creative nonfiction project - a collection of poems & stories. In 2015, she decided to resign from her life in Canada, selling her things, giving away books and moving to Berlin--alone. It would mark a 2nd migration. Her family moved from Malaysia to Canada in the 70s.
Instagram | LinkedIn | Web
DEFINITIONS
Laksa: A spicy noodle dish popular in Southeast Asia.
Stipendium: A scholarship (in German)
Sandra Oh: A Canadian & American actor of Korean descent. She's Dr. Christina Yang in Grey's Anatomy and the star of the BBC spy thriller "Killing Eve".
Mr. Miyagi: A fictional character in the Karate Kid franchise.
MENTIONED
9-Man by Ursula Liang
Moon Is The Oldest TV by Nam June Paik
Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8. Lee
My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki
Forever Chinatown
TAKEAWAYS
Immigrant parents struggling to survive often do not have time or bandwidth to provide emotional support
Art is not created in a vacuum. It is always a reflection of its time, and its creator.
We often deny ourselves the life we want because we think that's the right thing, the honorable thing, the expected thing to do. But if we peel back the layers, sometimes all we have are excuses and fear.
Feeling beautiful is not about external looks, but about feeling comfortable in our own bodies, and our own power.
Quiet time alone (and or therapy i might add), can help us untangle what we really want, what is really possible, and every other obstacle or expectation that we've taken for granted as fact without questioning
Full show notes: https://nuancespod.com/2023/08/20/june-chua/
CONTACT
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Host: Lazou
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S3 E09: Rita Phetmixay: No such thing as boundaries in Asian culture - the Lao diaspora, owning the narrative, and healing intergenerational trauma wi...

GUEST BIORita is a 2nd generation Lao Isaan (pronounced E-sahn) American holistic mental health & wellness professional based in Los Angeles. She is also the creator/host of the Healing Out Lao'd podcast, which explores the intersections of Lao diaspora storytelling, healing, and tools for sustainability.
Instagram | TikTok | Twitter | Facebook | Web DEFINITIONSPho: Vietnamese soup dish consisting of broth, rice noodles, herbs, and meat.Laos: Country in South East Asia bordered by Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar & ChinaMENTIONEDLina VLaab (Vegan recipe)Laab Diip (Raw beef salad)Pho Lao Thum Mak Hoong (Lao Papaya Salad)S3 E03: Dr. Manijeh MoradianLegacy of Wars Virtual LibraryTAKEAWAYSLaos is the most bombed country per capita, and it was bombed by the US during its secret war on Laos and Cambodia at the same time as its war on Vietnam.Being able to name previous generations' trauma responses, such as being overly protective, or overly frugal, and how they shaped our behavior patterns (eg. lack of agency/trust) can help us finally heal and stop the cycle of intergenerational trauma. Moving from a place where you're the only Asian or only anything, to a place where you're surrounded by your people can be jarring at first. In Asian cultures, setting boundaries can sometimes feel rigid. The way to soften these black and white definitions is to learn to communicate our love and desire to please, while still also communicating our own needs.While our culture was shaped by the people who created it and the norms at the time, we in the present have a chance to shape it for our current time.Patriotism is more nuanced than unconditional love for the country. For many, it comes with pride, joy, but also grief and a feeling of responsibility. Losing part of our identity is hard, but it can also bring a lot of growth as we expand how we define ourselves.It's easy to blame other people or circumstances, but no matter what the situation is, we are ultimately responsible for managing our feelings, and setting healthy boundaries. CONTACTInstagram | TikTok | Web | LinkedIn | TwitterHost: Lazou
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S3 E08: Kiran Kaur Gill on fighting Turban Myths with occupationally relevant training programs at the TSA, FBI, and other law enforcement agencies.

GUEST BIOKiran Kaur Gill is the executive director at SALDEF, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, where she oversees and executes programs related to policy, research, education, civic engagement, and youth leadership in the Sikh American community. Prior to her executive role, she volunteered at SALDEF to create and conduct Sikh awareness training around the country for schools, law enforcement, and state and local governments. She worked with the New Jersey Attorney General's office to develop statewide curricula and helped establish the SikhLEAD New Jersey program, which encourages civic engagement. among Sikh students. Additionally, Ms. Gill ran her own company PARS Environmental Incorporated from 2003 to 2017. Ms. Gill served as a board member of The One Project, an interfaith and community coalition organized to address social needs through education and volunteerism, and was the president and founding member of the Inspiring South Asian American Women. Her leadership and business acumen has won her numerous accolades. Full bio at nuancespod.com.
Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn | Web DEFINITIONSTSA: Transportation Security Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security that was created as a response to 9/11Gurdwara: A place of worship for SikhsMENTIONEDSher SinghSALDEFTurban MythsTAKEAWAYSMost Americans know very little of Sikhism and associate their turban to Bin Laden
Sikhs & Muslims became victims of Islamophobic hate crimes after 9/11.
As leaders, we can redefine our workplace so everyone thrives.
Getting to know even just the basics of a community's culture goes a long way to prevent misunderstandings and reduce fear and distrust.
Trainings using relevant hypothetical situations, facilitated by people who are local to the community, or have ground knowledge of the day-to-day situations faced by the trainees are most effective.
Preserving our culture does not mean we have to keep the bad parts too.
Providing access to mental health resources that are culturally sensitive and timely are a key component to creating safer communitiesCONTACTInstagram | TikTok | Web | LinkedIn | TwitterHost: Lazou
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S3 E07: Scott Okamoto on losing faith and becoming an English professor at an evangelical school + his thoughts on Oppenheimer

GUEST BIO
Scott Okamoto is a former English professor and ex-Evangelical writer, musician, and home chef. His newly released book is called Asian American Apostate: Losing Religion and Finding Myself at an Evangelical University. In the book, Scott tells his story of losing all faith while teaching at an evangelical university. Through this process, he dug deep into his roots as a 4th generation Japanese American and found community, art, music, and a life worth living. Scott also has a podcast called Chapel Probation.
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DEFINITIONS
Religious Deconstruction - a process in which people re-examine their faith and previously held beliefs, sometimes to the point of leaving the religion.
Religious Deconstruction - a process in which people re-examine their faith and previously held beliefs, sometimes to the point of leaving the religion.

Heart Mountain is a historic site sharing the stories of WW2 Japanese American prisoners.

Reparations: $20,000 checks paid in the 1990s to some 82,000 surviving Japanese American individuals who was detained in the camps. Camp residents lost some $400 million in property during their incarceration.

MENTIONED
TAKEAWAYS
Japanese Incarceration Camps are still glossed over in history classes. We need to demand that it be taught like Germany teaches about the Nazis.
Many felt embarrassed about their incarceration and tried to be exemplary patriots after their release in order to avoid being sent to camps again.
Representation helped many Japanese Americans feel like it was ok to talk about the camps.
Redlining and other discriminatory practices affect all of us.
You don't win people over with facts and arguments, but by building relationships with them.
Many of the views of evangelicals are not actually rooted in the bible. Religious texts are updated by flawed humans.
Deconstructing is easier if you have a good support system and community outside of religion.
You don't have to understand someone's experience to show compassion.
CONTACT
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Host: Lazou
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S3 E06: Travis Nguyen, interpreter & translator, on working with the deaf & deaf/blind communities, how intergenerational trauma manifests in day-to-d...

GUEST BIO
Travis Giuse Nguyen (he/él) is an interpreter and translator born and raised in Southeast Texas.
The son of a Vietnamese fisherman in the U.S.
and the long-time resident of two minority-majority cities (Port Arthur and Houston),
syncretism is the defining attribute of Travis's lived experience.
In his free time, Travis practices self-care by playing boleros on his trusty ukulele, singing, sewing, and caring for his plants..
Instagram | TikTok
DEFINITIONS
ASL: American sign language
Hakka, Hokkien, Cantonese are languages originating from Southern China.
Neurotypical/allistic people do not have autistic or other neurologically atypical patterns of thought or behavior. People who have ADHD, ASD are neurodivergent.
MENTIONED
Ocean Vuong
Protactile
TAKEAWAYS
We naturally internalize traumatic experiences, and they shape how we view the world and interact with it, whether we are cognizant of it or not.
When multi-lingual people get dementia, they will lose the last language they learned first.
As people who hear, we have access to a lot of auditory information that we glean in passing everywhere we go because people around us communicate in a language we can understand. That is not a privilege that deaf people have, because very few people around them use sign language.
Even if you don't know sign language, don't be intimidated to interact with deaf people.
Many of us do not speak our cultural language because our parents were wrongly told that teaching us anything other than English would prevent us from becoming fluent in English.
Getting to know people who have different lived experiences can help you see your blindspots.
Discussing politics/religion only leads to arguments if we don't know how to talk about them.
Self-determination is a myth. While we do have choices, our views, our taste, our personality is inevitably shaped by the people and media that surround us.
Pulling yourself by your bootstrap is also a myth. No one can claim to be entirely self-made. No one can be part of society without using resources that they didn't create themselves.
CONTACT
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Host: Lazou
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S3 E05: Dani Saldo is a hot, talented and disabled bisexual pop star on the rise who’s breaking up with her old (able-bodied) self.

GUEST BIO
Dani is a Filipino Canadian artist who creates music that effortlessly laments on young love and self-discovery. Moody, melancholic, and dreamy coming of age instrumentation complement the oozing nostalgia of her honest, hyper vulnerable, and conversational lyrics. Dani's song "All I Need" was featured on Anna Kendrick's movie, "Alice Darling", and several of her collaborations have been used in Netflix's Love is Blind and MTV's Teen Mom OGg. Artist cuts include Jillian May, Harley Huke, as well as Arcana's viral hit Stockholm syndrome performed by the dance studio ALiEN in Korea. Dani's debut ep, "everything I couldn't say", comes out early next year and it explores her experiences with grief, disability, love, and mental health.
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For full definitions, mentioned links, takeaways, transcript & video with captions: ⁠https://nuancespod.com/2023/07/15/s3e5-dani-saldo/(opens in a new tab)⁠
DEFINITIONS
Pancit
Fibromyalgia
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
Ableism
Grind culture
ODSP
Sensory friendly
MENTIONED
S2E1: Masaru Tanabe
S2E3: Tiffany Chou (Depo Market)
IKEA Philippines - Hapag | Paskong Pinoy Serie
Starter guide to more accessible, sensory friendly events
Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice
Andrew Gurza
Rachel Romu
TAKEAWAYS
If you are a parent struggling with your child's queerness because of your religion or other beliefs, just remember that whatever discomfort you're feeling, your child is likely going through much worse. Commit to learning more and continue to provide a safe space for your child to be themselves at home.
Feeling secure in your queerness and knowing that you are more than just your queerness can make it easier to talk about it with loved ones.
Becoming disabled comes with a lot of grief over your old self and a lot of unlearning your own internalized ableism.
Rest is healing. If you do not allow your body to rest, your body will make you do so eventually. So listen to your body and rest.
The cost of living is much higher for disabled individuals. Accessible options often cost more. This is yet another example of ableism in society.
Disabled people have an income cap, but billionaires don't. This is by design because capitalism is inherently ableist.
People with disabilities often feel like they are a burden to those close to them. If that is you, please know that you don't have to do anything to be deserving of love and kindness.
Disabled people can be hot. If that sounds weird to you, it's because we all have internalized ableism. But the good news is, this is fixable with better representation.
CONTACT
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Host: Lazou
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S3 E04: Teresa Suydam, Filipino & First Nations Ojibwe artist, on being a ”Lost Bird”, reconnecting with their biological mom, and making deliberate e...

GUEST BIO
Teresa Suydam is a lost bird songwriter and producer of Indigenous and Filipino descent who makes cinematic pop infused with honey-like vocals.
Based out of Denver, Colorado, Teresa chases their own culture and identity with their music, and is a safe haven to other multicultural individuals who don’t feel at home in their own skin.
In 2022, Teresa's music video for "Take Me to the Water" was nominated for the Native American Music Awards (NAMA)..
Instagram | TikTok | Web
DEFINITIONS
Smudging is a cultural ceremony practiced by Native peoples. It involves burning sacred herbs like tobacco, sweetgrass, sage, and cedar for medicinal, practical, and spiritual purposes. The smoke carries prayers and healing powers. A vessel holds the herbs, and the smoke is guided over the body using a feather (preferably eagle) or hand. Smudging a room involves directing smoke while praying for positive energy and removing negative energy. Ashes are placed outside to symbolize removing negative energy from our lives.
Smudging is a cultural ceremony practiced by Native peoples. It involves burning sacred herbs like tobacco, sweetgrass, sage, and cedar for medicinal, practical, and spiritual purposes. The smoke carries prayers and healing powers. A vessel holds the herbs, and the smoke is guided over the body using a feather (preferably eagle) or hand. Smudging a room involves directing smoke while praying for positive energy and removing negative energy. Ashes are placed outside to symbolize removing negative energy from our lives.
A powwow is a ceremony held by Native American peoples involving feasting, singing, and dancing.
Side note: You may have heard or used the term "powwow" to refer to meetings that are completely unrelated to the original Indigenous context. This is an example of cultural appropriation and is offensive to Native Americans because it strips the word from its great cultural importance.
TAKEAWAYS
When your people have been driven to near extinction by colonialism and constantly subjugated to brutal treatment, being alive today and occupying space is a form of resistance in itself.
For people who have grown up with no connection to their roots, it can take a while to warm up to the idea but with the unrelenting, gentle support of their mentors, Teresa did start to learn more about their cultures.
Sometimes we don't know what we've been missing until we experience it. Teresa had this experience both when connecting with their cultures and when reconnecting with their biological mom and described it as feeling more like themselves, more whole, and more at peace with who they are.
Learning can feel overwhelming when we know next to nothing, be it a language, a culture, or music production. But it gets easier if we start small and give ourselves some grace to make mistakes in order to learn.
CONTACT
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Host: Lazou
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nuancespod/support

S3 E03: Dr. Manijeh Moradian on why Iran isn’t always considered part of Asia, and how the West may be misinterpreting what Iranians truly want out of...

If you’ve ever wondered why Iran sometimes is, sometimes isn’t considered part of Asia, this episode has the answer. Because of the revolution in Iran, I really wanted to talk to a woman from the Iranian American diaspora and had the privilege of talking to Women’s, Gender & Sexuality studies professor, Dr. Manijeh Moradian. Manijeh talks about how the U.S. - Iran relationship evolved over decades from the ‘50s to the ‘79 revolution, and beyond. She also shares her thoughts on Western involvement and media coverage of the current feminist Iranian revolution, and what the Iranian people really want.
GUEST BIO
Manijeh Moradian is assistant professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University. Her book, This Flame Within: Iranian Revolutionaries in the United States, was published by Duke University Press in December 2022. She has published widely including in American Quarterly, Journal of Asian American Studies, Scholar & Feminist online, and Women’s Studies Quarterly. She is a founding member of the Raha Iranian Feminist Collective and on the editorial board of the Jadaliyya.com Iran Page.
DEFINITIONS
Coup d'état, a.k.a coup, is an illegal and overt attempt by the military or other government elites to unseat the incumbent leader.
Western hegemony: domination of the west over other countries through economic, political and military power. The
While colonialism used direct military control or hegemony to control or influence a colony, neocolonialism uses economic, political, cultural, or other pressures to control or influence other countries, especially former colonies or
dependencies.
Shah:the leading figure (or king) of an Iranian monarchy
Hijab: headcovering worn by Muslim women
MENTIONED
This Flame Within: Iranian Revolutionaries in the United States, by Manijeh Moradian
Ghosts of Revolution, by Shahla Talebi
Fesenjan recipe
Feminists for Jina
TAKEAWAYS
Many of the stereotypes we know are more recent than we think and they happened quickly, seemingly overnight.
Pitting minorities against each other is a common way for oppressors to keep the status quo. Iran distanced itself from Asia to avoid being subjugated by Europe.
Instead of always working through our governments, we can think of ways to create solidarity between our local grassroots movements across borders.
Asian Americans are Americans too, and our marketability should not be restricted to the Asian diaspora, but rather America at large.
Women's liberation does not mean assimilating into western culture.
CONTACT
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Host: Lazou
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S3 E02: Cherie Hu on music, culture and technology, and why you can’t copy/paste deployment strategies across cultural contexts. We also talk about AI...

GUEST BIO
Cherie Hu is the founder of the music-tech research organization Water & Music. Water & Music's mission is to make the music industry more innovative, cooperative, and transparent, by building a collaborative data and education hub that consistently beats the market on identifying trends in music, technology, and culture. Previously, Cherie penned hundreds of articles on music and tech as a freelance writer for publications including Billboard, Forbes, Pitchfork, and Variety. She has spoken as an expert commentator on CNBC and SiriusXM Volume; as a guest lecturer at institutions like Harvard University, New York University, and Northeastern University; and as a moderator, panelist or keynoter at over 30 conferences around the world..
Twitter | LinkedIn | Web
DEFINITIONS
Merch: merchandise sold by music artists, eg. t-shirts.
Bear market: market in which prices are falling, encouraging selling.
Beat (journalism): area of specialization for reporters where their newsgathering efforts are focussed on specific subjects or locations.
IRL: in real life (as opposed to virtually)
AI: artificial intelligence
ChatGPT: AI chatbot notable for its ability to adapt to desired length, format, style, level of detail, and language used
Midjourney: Ai tool that generates pictures based on text prompts.
Deepfake: synthetic media that has been digitally manipulated to impersonate one person's likeness convincingly.
DAW: digital audio workstation, software used to record & process sounds.
Splice: cloud-based music creation platform mostly known for its sample library.
Blockchain/Crypto/NFTs
MENTIONED
What’s The (Far) Future Of Music Listening? By Cherie Hu
TAKEAWAYS
Understand what you are committing to before picking a career and make sure it works for you.
Being unapologetically yourself can help you stand out and carve out a niche for yourself.
Partner with peers to create win-win situations that help you both grow.
When trying to understand trends, it’s helpful to ask whose perspective is being left out, and whether that information could move the conversation forward.
AI will likely transform most jobs in some way, but the key is to find out what human skills are still irreplaceable.
A company's incentives will dictate its policies on AI usage to automate tasks.
CONTACT
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Host: Lazou
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S3 E01: DJ Mimi Chen on knowing her worth, standing up for herself, and having a blast doing it.

Nuances: beyond first impressions with the Asian diaspora is a podcast exploring diverse intersectional identities, career paths and more.
Support the show:nuancespod.com/support
Join our discord: nuancespod.com/community
GUEST BIO
Mimi Chen is a long time radio DJ who has been heard in Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles. She is currently at KCSN 88.5FM in Los Angeles. In her spare time, she acts and has co-founded several tech companies. One is a conversational AI company. The more current company, Vlipside, is an metaverse company.
It isn't every day that you get to talk to a trailblazer in the radio industry..
Instagram | TikTok | Web
DEFINITIONS
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States.
TAKEAWAYS
You deserve a raise & promotion if you've been at your job for several years. Ask for it.
There are lots of opportunities out there and you deserve to be treated well everywhere you go. Your job does not have to be terrible for you to leave.
You don't have to live off your craft. Day jobs or side gigs that generate consistent income are great.
Not all POC face the same kind of discrimination. We need to learn from and support one another.
Working moms often feel guilty. If that's you, remember that you're doing your best and give yourself some grace
Career milestones are great but will not make you happy. Find happiness outside of work.
CONTACT
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Host: Lazou
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